TRAVERSE Issue 17 - April 2020 | Page 114

Great Ocean Road, Royal Enfield. Two names you wouldn’t ordinarily put together, yet Nevermind Adventure has and offer a 1-day tour on one of their bikes on Australia’s most iconic road. Nevermind claim that the Royal Enfield is built for the GO Road, a bold claim, but there’s no doubt that these little machines are a hell of a lot of fun on the coastal road. The ride starts at Nevermind headquarters in Geelong West before heading through the backway to the Great Ocean Road, the Otway National Park. A collection of bikes; Classics, Interceptors, GT Continentals, Himalayans and a few Benelli’s thrown in. It’s a great opportunity to ride the Royal Enfield range and talk bikes with fellow riders. On our tour most of the riders were new or novice to motorcycling; a great opportunity to ride Victoria’s west coast without the pressure of riding with sports bikes. We could neither agree nor disagree that the Enfield is built for these roads, although one comes very close; the GT Continental 650. It’ll never win a Grand Prix but is fun in amongst the twists and turns of this part of the world. The Nevermind Great Ocean Road ride is not a tour to discover the region although, a midmorning coffee stop, and lunch are provided and allow a chance to discuss the area, history and landscape. The ride is well, more about the ride … and that’s fine. Once leaving the Otway’s we dropped down into Apollo Bay and so began the Great Ocean Road for the return to Geelong. The road was surprisingly ‘empty’. Coronavirus already taking its toll on tourists numbers? TRAVERSE 114